Just Toubabin' Around

The other day I had a chance to check out the African Renaissance statue here in Dakar. It was only unveiled two months ago, to celebrate the country’s 50^th anniversary of independence from French colonial rule, on top of a huge hill on the edge of the city overlooking the ocean. The statue shows a man, woman and child emerging from a volcano-type thing.

Because it’s still so new, I’ve heard tons about it from people around town. Not to mention it’s HUGE, bigger than the Statue of Liberty, so it’s hard to ignore. Anyway, there’s a lot to be said about it.

Keep in mind, all of this reflects what I picked up from people around the city and in my neighborhood and it obviously isn’t how everyone feels. But I started to hear the same sort of stuff from a lot of them...

For the most part, it’s been pretty controversial. For one, people complain how the gov’t spent $28 million on it. Its true, there are bigger fish to fry here in Senegal – like unemployment (which I’ve heard is well above 50%), social services, etc… Also, the woman is showing some serious skin which frustrates a lot of the Muslim community in Dakar who prefer to keep their women more…clothed?

People’s biggest beef with it, however, is how much it idolizes the West – the direction in which all three of the statue’s characters are pointing. I’ve even heard some people complain that the idea of having an enormous statue alone is “too western” for Africa. Not to mention the word “renaissance” directly refers to a period in European history. So, not only does the statue’s name echo a culture’s history that isn’t their own, it echoes that of their old colonizers.

Recently in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, gave a speech in Dakar in which he gave a call-to-action to Africa to develop itself – like no one’s been trying. In the speech, he kept encouraging the continent to “start a Renaissance” and to “finally enter human history.” Considering the sordid history between Senegal and France, he should have known to be more careful with his words and that the speech would be seen as terribly offensive. A lot of people over here openly hate the guy for his indifferent attitude toward Senegal, their old colony, a country that could really use the help.

Even though Sarkozy didn’t invent the term, this famous “pep talk” is how a lot of people became familiar with it, which he repeats throughout the speech about a dozen times. There’s a famous response by Boubacar Boris Diop, a famous Senegalese writer/intellectual, to Sarkozy’s speech. Check it out: http://www.zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/nicholas-sarkozy-s-unacceptable-speech-boubacar-boris-diop-trans-french-wan

At the same time, the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, is kind of a western “fan” and, against what seems like what most people around here want, has done a lot of things to help Senegal westernize (he’s pushing hard to rename Africa the “United States of Africa”). So a lot of people weren’t completely surprised that this would come from him. (is it important to mention that President Wade made sure that Jesse Jackson and AKON (hahahaha) were present for the monument’s inauguration?)

So it seems like the Senegalese have a lot of bad vibes toward the African Renaissance statue. Some think it’s ugly, but most hate it because of the deep political and historical implications. But the Parisians hated the Eiffel Tower and that glass pyramid at the Louvre at first, right? Look how those two worked out. Just playing devils advocate.

From the top, you can see so many cool things. Like the 'burbs:

And Luke Skywalker's boyhood home: